Showing Some Love to Your Christmas Baby

Christmas is a time for joy and your baby being born on or around Christmas probably adds to that magic. But actually being the child who is a Christmas Baby can be difficult when the holidays roll around. In fact, being born any time around Christmas can mean that your child’s special day gets overlooked in unintentional ways.By the time that they’re adults, Christmas babies have generally found ways to celebrate in unique ways. For a child, however, this magical time of year can be both exciting and disappointing. This is especially true if they have a sibling who gets to have a birthday that is entirely separate from Christmas.

Before you begin, if your little one will celebrate his first Christmas this year, check out my blog post about Baby’s First Christmas

5 Tips on how can you make it so your Christmas baby doesn’t feel left out

1. Keep the celebrations separate

If your child’s birthday is around Christmas then do your best to ensure you make their birthday special. I know that it can be a lot with all the Christmas hullabaloo, but it will really make all the difference. Put as much effort into your Christmas Baby’s birthday as you would at any other time. This includes putting up decorations for their birthday and getting balloons if that’s the birthday tradition in your house. You want to make sure there’s a clear line between Christmas time and the Birthday party.

2. Have a Birthday Party

This might sound obvious, but there were a few times when my birthday got skipped altogether because it was Christmas. Even if you need to schedule the party a few weeks early or a few weeks later, make sure that you have a party for your child that’s about them. If you’re moving the party to a later date, you can always celebrate their actual birthday with some cupcakes and a small gift. Being reminded that their real party is coming gives your child something to look forward to.

Have a separate Birthday Party

3. Don’t give Christmas and Birthday gifts at the same time

You as a parent may understand that your child is getting more gifts than they would have regularly, but your child won’t. Just like you’re keeping celebrations separate, give them gifts on separate days. If you have a child who was born directly on Christmas, then give them their presents on Christmas Eve or Boxing day. If you can, keep the gift giving a few days apart so it’s entirely clear to your child what these gifts are for.

4. Don’t give a Christmas/Birthday gift

This sucks. Don’t combine the presents. It really sucks. Now as an adult I can look at what’s going on and understand, but it’s hard for even clever children to do. Even if your child knows that they’re getting a bigger gift because it’s together, it probably won’t feel like they’re getting a bigger gift. Instead, it will feel like they got something for Christmas and not for their birthday or vice versa. Hedge your bets and keep the gifts separate.

Don’t give Christmas and Birthday gifts at the same time

5. Keep a budget for gifts

Make sure that you don’t spend more on a non-Christmas child than your Christmas baby. Again, it sounds obvious, but it’s easy for things to get blurred when your child is young. Set a spend limit for birthday gifts and don’t go too far over or under that limit.Some children will immediately tell you if they feel like they’re not getting a fair deal. Others will keep quiet and you won’t know until it’s too late that they’ve felt left out. So the best thing to do is just keep those celebrations as separate as you can manage.Do you have any thoughts or suggestions for making your Christmas babies feel special? Please let me know in the comments below.

This post was written by Lindsay Goto. Lindsay is my dear friend, a Christmas Expert, and a blogger.
Her blog Truly Booked is dedicated to all those who have a love for books bordering on an obsession 🙂